


That One Flight

by Strale



Series: The O'Neill Series [1]
Category: The O'Neill Series
Genre: Airplanes, Airports, F/M, Flirting, Gen, Love, Love at First Sight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:28:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25807402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strale/pseuds/Strale
Summary: Arriving at the airport, Ana feels the intense euphoria take over her body. While waiting in line to drop off her baggage, her eyes accidentally fall upon someone who will literally change her life. For the better.*EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK*"You know..." he begins. "Words can't even describe the feeling I get when I see you smile.". His words leave an effect on me, as they always do..."You know, you are going to have to try harder if you expect me to fall for you..." I reply."Well, haven't you already fallen for me? You have your head on my shoulder and your hand around mine. I know I ain't no doctor Cupid, but to me, that signals something.". I chuckle at his words."Also, who said I was trying to make you fall for me?" he asks, raising his eyebrow.I sarcastically widen my eyes. "Oh, so you are not trying to make me fall for you?"."I didn't say that..." he replies."Oh, so you are..."."Just go to sleep..." he says through his smile. I gladly accept his request and lay back down onto his shoulder.
Series: The O'Neill Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872334





	1. Chapter I - Terminal One.

Gentle sleet snowed down upon me whilst I dragged my suitcase behind me. The slight accumulation of the built-up icy-snow crunches under my feet.

I always become so nervous when I go to airports and boy is this year no different. But along with all the nervousness, my body is also welcomed by the odd feeling of euphoria.

I approach the automated door and seconds pass before they open, allowing me inside.

"Welcome to Euromania International Airport..." but before the automated voice could finish its message, I have already walked into the main terminal. The warm air welcomed my cold body. I feel my hands become wet ever so slightly. I look down just to see drops of water scattered on my hands, on my outfit from the snow.

I regain my concentration on what is in front of me. Without a second thought, I shift my direction towards the departures.

Entering the actual terminal building, I make sure to take a look at one of the monitors.

"Check-in area 9," I mutter to myself before proceeding my way deeper into the terminal.

With no further assistance, I easily manage to see and walk myself to 'Area 9'.

Immediately I walk into the queue as I notice the line only growing bigger and bigger with each passing moment. Taking my place, I am now hoping that all this will pass by very soon and I will get to my gate on time. But all I can do is hope.

Turning around left and right, I can't help but notice the queue only grow bigger in size. Briefly diverting my sight to myself, I look at my wristwatch. 10:08 AM.

I let out an impatient sigh as my eyes return to subconsciously scanning my surroundings.

'Am I going to even make it on time?...' I ask myself.

I turn my head towards the end of the line just out of curiosity to see how long the line has become. But, my eyes suddenly stumble upon a young man. I can't help but find him attractive. His confused face is only boosting his attractivity. His dark hair sexily draped over his forehead, the furrowing of his eyebrows adds to his seriousness that is oh-so-visible. The more I look at him, the sexier he becomes.

I get kicked out of my thoughts when someone cleared their voice behind me. I then realise that the line has moved. Quickly grabbing my things, I catch up.

Waiting, I take another chance and look towards the direction of the young man who seems to be lost. I am not going to lie, I have seen many attractive men, but this one right here... he is my definition on handsome. My ex couldn't even compare to him.

I am once again kicked out of my thoughts when his teal eyes meet mine. Only seconds pass before he smiles at me.

His actions instantly cause me to look away as I feel a blush spread upon my cheeks. It was also when I looked away from his beautiful eyes that I realised the line has moved, so I catch up by scooching a step or two.

I try to keep my eyes off him, I am looking at the queue, looking for any movements. I can hear some murmurs from behind me, I can't help but think that those murmurs have something got to do with me.

Each second feels like a minute, five minutes felt like five hours. I can feel the temptation in me rise and it is getting to the point where it is becoming unbearable. A couple more seconds pass before I give in to the temptation, I feel the thirst, I want to see him, so I look back. It didn't take long before I notice him. My eyes pop out of my sockets when I realise he is in the same queue as me.

Once again, his eyes find their way to mine, his smile mesmerises me, but his wink really set me off guard. It caused another, more intense rush of red to stretch across my cheeks and before I knew it, I had my eyes back down on my bag prior to me filling the gap that laid in front of me.

It felt like hours have passed, when in fact 30 minutes or so have ticked away until I was next in line to get checked in. For those thirty minutes, I took any and every chance I found to look at this gorgeous gentleman. At times I was thankful that my clandestine sighting worked to my favour and at times I cursed myself for falling under his spell when his eyes met with mine.

I quickly reacted when one of the employees by the counter called out 'next', leading me towards them. Walking up to the counter, I am greeted by a young staff member. He smiled at me before helping me place my suitcase on the belt. After that, I handed him my passport.

"Where are you off to, if you don't mind me asking?". His question caught me by a surprise.

"...Ermmm, I..." I find it hard to begin my sentence, which only makes his let out a silent chuckle. Looking up at him, I am met with his friendly gaze. I take a deep breath before trying again.

"Belgrade, Serbia," I tell him.

"Very nice," he replies before scanning my passport. I can see him work something out with the tickets. Within ten seconds, he returns me my passport with a boarding pass inside.

"Vas let je na kapiji 125. Uzivajte u vasem letu. Srecan put. (You flight is at gate 125, enjoy your flight. Safe travels)," he says.

"Hvala vam puno (thank you very much)," I reply.

With that, I begin walking towards the exit of the check-in counter. Quickly looking down, I look again at my wristwatch. 10:45 AM. I have just about an hour before boarding begins, so I quickly head towards the gates, but before getting to the gates, I must go through security.

Reaching the queue for security, I am met by a long line right before me. Taking my place, I am once again forced to wait. I let out a gentle sigh as I am coming to the realisation that this may take longer than expected. Who am I kidding, this will take longer than expected.

Forty minutes drag by and I finally go through security. I feel relief by the fact that I manage to pass through security without any hassle.

Reaching the other side of security, I am met with many duty-free shops, they fill every single corner of this huge hallway.

Although I'd love to go into a few of these shops, my worry wins and I continue moving along. I need to find my gate because I don't have much time left.

A couple of monitors on the way to my gate catch my attention and I am forced to stop. I look at the information displayed on the screen for a double check, it does not take long before I find my flight EMA 6571. My assumptions are proven correct once I see the boarding time, and that my gate has not been changed.

EMA 6571 - TO- Belgrade - ON TIME - Boarding 11:50 - Gate 125.

From there on, I follow the signs above me to lead me to my gate.

I have walked about a hundred meters before reaching the end of the duty-free section and a barrier to where the gates are. The barrier is two automatic glass doors, one letting people into the gate section, while the other is used to let people back out into the big duty-free section.

I quicken my walk and go towards one of the two doors. They open and allow me access into the gates. It's bigger than I expected it to be.

Seconds pass before my eyes got caught by the gate numbers.

101, 102, 103, 104, 105...

I continue my walk whilst glimpsing at the flight information laid out of the monitors right outside each of the jetbridges.

Gate 105 -> EMA 2161 To - Narita - Final Call - Boarding Time - 11:00.

Gate 107 -> TPA 1957 To - Lisabon - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:25.

Gate 113 -> EMA 4132 To - Seattle - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 12:05.

Gate 115 -> AM 6684 To - Washington D.C. - Boarding Delayed - Boarding at 12:45.

Gate 117 -> EMA 8167 To - Rio De Janeiro - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:50.

Gate 122 -> EMA 5146 To - Los Angeles - Boarding Delayed - Boarding at 13:05.

Gate 124 -> LF 5413 To - Frankfurt - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:30.

And finally, my gate.

Gate 125 -> EMA 6571 To - Belgrade - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:45.

I arrive at my gate with around fifteen more minutes to go. I see some people standing while most are still sitting. I get even more confused when I see that there isn't a plane at the gate. I hope the flight won't be delayed!

Anyways, I walk towards the top of the gate, where the seats that give a beautiful view of the outside are. Taking one of the idle seats, my eyes instantly dart out through the window where I see planes passing by. It is a very busy day at Euromania Airport, so there are A LOT of planes taxiing around. From the A380s to the 747s all the way down to even the small E175s.

Not even a full minute passes, my eyes once again divert down to my watch. 11:32 AM.

The chatter around me is what caused my head to turn. I see more and more people standing up and lining up. Most of the passengers look really confused. The apron of gate 125 is still empty. Turning back around, I am wondering whether I should stand up and join the growing queue, or wait here.

But it wouldn't have mattered. My eyes land on that guy, the blue-eyed angel. I am forced to stay down on my chair.

His eyes manage to find a way and meet mine, he sends me another smile followed by a wink, instantly causing me to lower my gaze from him. I don't want him to see the effect he has on me.


	2. Chapter Two - Delay...

“Hi... You look strangely familiar...” he says. I close my eyes, thinking if this is even real. Opening them back up, I face my nervousness by looking towards the deep voice. As I do, I am greeted by a warm smile as it spread across his lips.

“Do.. you mind?” he ushers for the empty seat beside me.

I begin to panic ever so slightly and immediately scooch away to try and give him space to sit. “Please...” is the only word I manage to spit out.

I hear him chuckle at my reply, I also notice how his eyes never went off mine.

“My name is James...” he says, stretching his hand out towards me.

Subconsciously, I take his hand into mine before we shake our hands. “Nice to meet you James, I’m Ana,” I reply.

The palms of our hands slowly drag off one another before we both retract our limbs back to ourselves.

“It’s a pleasure meeting you too, Ana. But I have an important question for you”.

“Huh?” I look at him to show that I am listening.

“How have you been?“. His question leaves me raising my eyebrow, but it never the less causes his smirk to broaden even further.

Something about his intense gaze causes a swirling sensation to spin in my stomach. I discreetly try to lower my eyes from him to help myself, but it doesn’t work. It’s like just his presence is enough to leave a visible effect on me. But somehow, I manage to compose myself and give him a reply.

“To be honest, I am not too bad, tired. You?“.

Even though I am not looking at him, I can feel his gaze lingering on my skin.

“I’m not doing too bad either,” his sudden pause leaves me slightly confused. That is when I realised he scooches over towards me. “... especially after realising I have a secret admirer,” he finished off his sentence with a whisper. I don’t even have to say that his words left a big effect on me... My red cheeks say it all.

I can hear his silent chuckles, which I am lead to think is from my reaction, causing the blush that is already on my cheeks to furthermore strengthen.

“Don’t worry...” his whisper catches me attention.

“I have that effect on most people... women to be more precise...“.

I look up into his eyes just to see a wink that he sends my way. My head drops as quickly as it rose.

I hear him chuckle once again, right before the noise of the passengers behind us was the only audible sound.

“So tell me, why Belgrade?” he asks.

His question really took me off guard. I look up at him, just to see his head turn before tilting down so that his eyes can look into mine.

I try to give him a smile, but I feel like it was anything but that.

“I have family in Belgrade, so I am going to visit them. You?”

“Dunno really...” he begins. I notice how all his concentration is set outside the window in front of us. His eyebrows once again furrow. Seconds pass before he retracts his gaze back to me. “I have heard that the nightlife in Belgrade is pretty awesome, so why not give it a go, you know?“. I find myself subconsciously nodding to his words.

“Tell me, are you Serbian?” he asks me.

I clear my throat before answering him.

“Yes, I was born and raised in Belgrade until my parents decided to move here, to Germany. I was 6 at the time...” I unintentionally stare at his leather jacket, I can’t help but let all the memories seep back into my head. “Just some additional information about me,” I add a couple of seconds later.

I can see him deeply gaze at me and I look at him back.

“You know, people keep on telling me this one thing about Serbia. I now see that it’s no bullshit...” he says.

“And what is that?” I ask him. I can’t help but let some of my curiosity peek through the surface.

He once again draws himself closer to me...

“How beautiful Serbian women are...” he whispers to me. I would never blush at this, I would never even come close to reacting the way I am now. But because it’s him and he is whispering into my ear, I can’t help but once again turn into a tomato.

I try to play it off with an eye roll.

“I have heard that flirt way too many times...”

“But it never fails to make you blush now, does it?“. FUCK.

“You are unbelievable, you know that?” I tell him, something about the way he is looking at me and his smirk causes me to break into a smile too. I am beginning to damn myself for breaking into that smile because I see him moving even closer to me.

“Unbelievably handsome...” he ‘corrects’ me.

He causes me to roll my eyes once again.

“You roll your eyes, I’ll ask you again about this when your lips are all over mine.“.

WAIT WHAT!?

He laughs at my reaction to what he just said.

We were interrupted by the lady at our desk, where we will be boarding. She began speaking through the microphone that was on the desk.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I have just now received some information about Euromania flight 6571 to Belgrade. Boarding will be delayed, new boarding time will be expected in around 12:30. On behalf of Euromania Airlines, we apologize for the delay.“.

I look at the ground as I feel slightly frustrated.

“So in an hours time... Huh?...“.

“Yup...” James answers.

“What the fuck am I going to do for another hour?...” I mutter to myself.

“Talk to me...” I can hear his voice behind me. I really need to practice to mutter more quietly.

“Yeah, you really should learn how to mutter more quietly...” he says, chuckling with entertainment as I look at him, confused.

“You know, you should sometimes really speak in your thoughts, not out loud.“.

I am about to say something, but I decide to stay quiet. Looking up at him, I am met my his amused smirk. I roll my eyes at him.

“Whatever...” I mutter under my breath.

“So you can mutter under your breath?” He teases me, but I reply with a sigh.

He chuckles behind me.

From James, I turn my attention to the window. I look outside at the busy, snowy taxiway.

I watch at the snow as it managed to find it’s way from the sky down to the ground.

A Boeing 737-800 catches my attention as it taxing on the taxiway, moments later an Airbus A321-200 appears behind it and behind the A321, I can see an A320-200.

The two planes taxi across, but the A320 slows down before turning into our gate. It continues slowly moving towards the terminal before slowing and stopping completely.

Even though I am in an enclosed area, I can hear the engines of the aircraft running.

I walk up to the window, looking at the engines. They begin to slow down their spin, they shut down. This is something I love to do at airports while waiting for the preparations for the new load of passengers to board.

As the engines continue to slow down, I see the baggage handlers and caterers drive up to the plane. Minutes pass before the fueling truck joins them too.

Within seconds, I see the first few passengers exit onto the jetbridge. The plane began to disembark.


	3. Chapter Three -  Flight 5671 - To - Belgrade.

I keep my gaze at the plane in front of me. I watch as passengers exit the aircraft.

On the airport grounds, by the plane, I see 2 ground crew helping with the unloading of the luggage from the airplane. An additional 2 ground crew take the suitcases before loading them onto the trolleys attached to the yellow luggage cart.

Pulling my attention up from the ground crew, my eyes are met by the nose of the plane. Looking up even higher, I am met by the cockpit of the aircraft.

I can see only one pilot in the cockpit as he is looking down at something. I then see the back of another pilot by the cockpit door, he is probably saying his goodbyes to the passengers.

Looking away from our plane, I am greeted by an American Airlines A330-200 taxi past out gate. Behind it followed a Lufthansa A321-200.

"This airport is enormous, " I hear James's voice right beside me. Turning my head, I notice how close his body is to mine.

"Yeah, it's big... but it's very beautiful, " I reply.

"But I see something even more beautiful...". I feel his body gently press against mine. His actions give me an insight into who he is calling beautiful.

"Hint, she is right beside me..." he whispers the obvious right by my left ear, but it never the less causes another blush to spread across my cheeks.

I, once again, try to play it off with an eye roll. "That sounds incredibly cliche, you know that?" I say, turning and once again facing him. Once I do, I am met by his amused face.

"Well beautiful... I am a master of cliche. Something that is worth noting, " he replies, giving me a wink before a mighty smirk appeared on his lips. I react by, once again, blushing and diverting my gaze elsewhere. "As long as I can show you my affection, I don't give a rats-ass what way I try to approach you, whether it being cringy or cliche.". Something about the way he worded his sentence caused me to look back at him. When I do, I am met with his deep gaze.

"The 'affection', you say?..." I ask, cursing myself for breaking into a small smile. I guess he noticed when he smiled back at me.

The smile on my face instantly drops and the beating of my heart rapidly increases when I see him lower his head towards mine.

"Yes, my affection..." he whispers to me. Seconds pass before his deep, manly chuckles resonate in my head.

"Is so easy to make you blush, you know that?". I blushed?... I didn't even notice myself blush.

A sudden, muffled roar from a plane causes us both to turn our attention back to the window. I managed to catch a glimpse of a Boeing 747-400 in the colours of Euromania Airlines on its takeoff roll right before its lift-off.

"The queen of the skies..." I hear James's voice trail behind me.

"It's such a beautiful aircraft..." I say.

"Mh-hmm" He hums in agreement.

I feel him slightly move away from me, before resting against the railing by the window.

"So is this the beautiful bird that'll take us to Belgrade?" he asks me.

I reply with a simple nod.

"Very nice..." I hear his voice trail off.

We stood there in silence for I don't know how long, watching the airliners as they operate on the other side of the glass.

"Are you into planes?" his question breaks the silence.

"Well... I guess, sure," I reply. "You?".

He nods before speaking. "I guess... It's more so a fascination. I find it amazing how people make these machines that can actually fly..." he says.

"Modern technology, eh?". He chuckles to my words.

With that, both James and I, once again, return our attention to the planes outside.

"What is time?" I ask him minutes later.

"11:50".

I turn to him and notice how he turned towards me. I give him a smile. "Thanks...".

"My pleasure..." he produces a deep reply.

Over the next 20 minutes, we see a load more planes pass by and take off while some land and taxi into their assigned gate.

Then I see that plane that is due to fly to Narita taxi by, behind it followed an American Airlines with a United Airlines chasing her.

An additional 15 minutes tick by before we hear the woman by our gate speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Euromania Airlines flight 5671 to Belgrade is ready for boarding. If we can please ask any passengers who are travelling with younger children or are in business class to please line up first. Thank you and we are, once again, very sorry for the delay.".

Priority boarding... Ugh...

"Looks like we'll be the last ones to get on the plane, eh?" he says. Something about his words causes me to chuckle.

"Yeah..." I agree with him seconds later.

I see him turn around before walking away, his hands are in the pockets of his bottoms. I can't help but let my eyes run up and down the back of his well-built body and big thighs.

I shake myself out of my stare.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

He turns around and faces me with a smug look on his face.

"Missing me already, eh?" he asks, sending me another wink. I feel a blush spread across my cheeks, but I try and brush it off with an eye roll. Straight after, I, once again, drop my gaze off him.

"You ready to go?".

"Where to?..." I ask. My eyes return to his only to see his deep gaze.

"The queue, of course, " he chuckles at me. "Getting a bit worry where I'm going, are we?" he teases me. But it's his words that manage to pull another eye roll out of me.

Without another utterance made, I walk over to him, then past him and into the long queue. I hear him let out another chuckle behind me. It's those chuckles that make me feel a swirling sensation in my stomach.

I'm not falling for a stranger... am I?

I am shot out of my trance when I felt a hand gently graze mine. Looking to my left, I was expecting to see James but was proven wrong when it turned out to be a middle-aged man. We both exchange our apologies, he walks away from me while I try to look around me for James.

Moments pass before I feel a big hand wrap around my arm. A deep voice makes me aware of who it is.

"I'm right behind you. I noticed your worry, " James chuckles at me.

Suddenly, someone pushed into both James and me, resulting in his body pressing against my back. His head was right beside mine as I felt his hands wrap around me to not let me stumble over. Although he cologne is going to make me do just that...

I let out a sigh of surrender when his aftershave hit me, intoxicating me even further.

I look down and see his leather shoes surrounding my two, small feet. Just then do I realise how closely pressed he is against me. How don't I feel his di-

"Are you okay?" He asks, before letting out a string of chuckles. But I am too deep in my thoughts to process that he is talking to me. First his cologne, now his aftershave. I swear, this can only happen to me...

"Ana?" The gruffness in his voice instantaneously pulls me out of my thoughts. That is when I also realise that he did not move an inch away from me. So I do it for him, I scooch away from him before facing him. I notice how he furrows his brows.

"Are you okay?".

"Yeah, I am fine..." I reply, but I feel myself grow warmer the longer his gaze stays on me.

Then, our exchange was - thankfully - interrupted by a woman.

"I am so sorry..." she instantly says. The way she lowered her eyes to the two smaller boys beside her caused me - and I am assuming James - to look down at them too.

"What do you say?" The woman says in a wary voice.

"We are sorry we pushed you..." they both say concurrently. It caused me to smile before I walk up to the boys and kneel down so that we were all at an eye-level.

"No worries, I am sure it was an accident.". They both nod at my words. "You both are so adorable," I add through a smile, causing the younger of the two boys to smile and bite his finger in diffidence. It furthermore widened the smile on my face.

Then suddenly, I sense a wave of cologne hit me. James.

I see him kneel right beside me.

"What are your names?" he asks them in a soft friendly voice, before diverting his eyes to the woman, their mother I assume, who is standing above us, "if I may ask.".

"Oh, of course..." she answers with a nod.

"My name is Ashton..." says the younger boy.

"That's such a handsome name, for a handsome boy!" I reply. The smile on my face does not drop.

"Thank you..." he replies, still shy. He melts my heart, its shown by the chuckles I let out. Both James and I look at the second boy.

"What's your name?" James asks him in that same, friendly tone.

"James," the boy reply.

"Well would you look at that..." the cliche master - beside me - says. "My name is James too.". With him saying that I see how the boy smiled at James.

We were cut short when the lady at our gate announced something else. The two boys and the woman go off.

"Thank you so much for talking to them. As you can see, they can they are a little shy. Sadly we must go. Bye.". The two boys wave at us and we wave back.

"They are so cute," I say in a giggle. I hear James do the same. We turn around just for our laughs to die out. Reality kicks in.

"You know... you are really good with kids," James states, breaking the silence a couple of seconds later.

"Well, I know how to work with kids. Also, kids love me... for some reason". I hear him chuckle at my remark.

I see his eyes divert from me. "We should get going..." he states, pointing to the queue. The economy class is now beginning to board.

We both take our place in the queue, side by side. Suddenly, I get pushed, resulting in me moving and creating a gap between me and James that was filled the passengers trying to eagerly board the plane. I quickly look back and see James gazing at me, he sends me a smile of reassurance which I gladly take.

Turning back, I realise I am close to being let into the plane. I quickly take out my passport and ticket, and by the time I do so, I am next in line to get boarded.

"Good morning," said one of the ladies. I hand her over my passport and ticket. I look at her as she works her way with the ticket and my passport. A faint beep is heard and she returns my travel essentials.

"Have a safe flight..." she adds.

"Thank you very much.". With that, I begin to make my way towards the jet bridge, I glance back just to see James looking down at his passport and ticket. He looks up, consequently landing his eyes on me. He sends me another smile with a wink and with that, I turn around and enter the cold jet-way.


End file.
